U.S. patent number 11,373,215 [Application Number 16/919,331] was granted by the patent office on 2022-06-28 for substituting streaming station for over-the-air broadcast.
This patent grant is currently assigned to iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc.. The grantee listed for this patent is iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc.. Invention is credited to Jeffrey Lee Littlejohn.
United States Patent |
11,373,215 |
Littlejohn |
June 28, 2022 |
Substituting streaming station for over-the-air broadcast
Abstract
An automotive radio receiver includes an over-the-air radio
tuner and a network interface. When a broadcast is received at the
radio receiver, it includes embedded information that can be used
to identify the radio station providing the broadcast. The radio
receiver uses the embedded information to identify a streaming
station that corresponds to the broadcast station. The radio
receiver transmits information associated with the streaming
station to a web service, which returns an address at which the
radio receiver can access the streaming station. The address of the
streaming station is stored in a memory accessible to the radio
receiver for later use. The next time the radio receiver is tuned
to the same broadcast station, the radio receiver instead connects
to the streaming station at the stored address.
Inventors: |
Littlejohn; Jeffrey Lee (Mason,
OH) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
iHeartMedia Management Services, Inc. |
San Antonio |
TX |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
iHeartMedia Management Services,
Inc. (San Antonio, TX)
|
Family
ID: |
1000006401085 |
Appl.
No.: |
16/919,331 |
Filed: |
July 2, 2020 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20200336232 A1 |
Oct 22, 2020 |
|
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
15148845 |
May 6, 2016 |
10707980 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04H
20/26 (20130101); H04B 1/082 (20130101); G06Q
30/0267 (20130101); G06Q 30/0271 (20130101); H04H
20/24 (20130101); H04L 67/12 (20130101); H04L
65/611 (20220501); H04W 4/80 (20180201); H04L
67/02 (20130101); H04H 60/44 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06Q
30/02 (20120101); H04H 20/26 (20080101); H04H
60/44 (20080101); H04H 20/24 (20080101); H04L
67/02 (20220101); H04L 65/611 (20220101); H04W
4/80 (20180101); H04L 67/12 (20220101); H04B
1/08 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;705/14.64 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
FM RDS for Smart Charging of PEVs (Year: 2012). cited by examiner
.
DRiVE-ing to the Internet: Dynamic Radio for IP Services in
Vehicular Environments (Year: 2000). cited by examiner .
AM & FM's Digital Conversion: How HD RadioTM Will Spur
Innovative Telematics Services for the Automotive Industry (Year:
2006). cited by examiner .
The Perfect Technology: Radio and Mobility (Year: 2015). cited by
examiner .
Radio Frames--Personalization of Audio Programs (Year: 2011). cited
by examiner .
Developing e-Radio: An Online Audio Streaming Application (Year:
2011). cited by examiner .
The Network Vehicle--A Glimpse into the Future of Mobile
Multi-Media (Year: 1999). cited by examiner .
An Evaluation Environment and Methodology for Automotive Media
Streaming Applications, Robert Protzmann, Kay Massow, Ilja Radusch,
(Year: 2014). cited by applicant .
Software Radio FM Broadcast Receiver for Audio Indexing
Applications, B. Happi Tietche, 0. Romain, B. Denbi, L. Benaroya\
F. de Dieuleveult, B. Granado, H. Khemiri, G. Chollet, D.
Petrovska-Delacretaz, R. Blouet, K. Hachicha, and S. Viateur (Year:
2012). cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Ubale; Gautam
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Garlick & Markison Marshall;
Edward J.
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS
The present U.S. Utility Patent Applications claims priority
pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 121 as a divisional of U.S. Utility
application Ser. No. 15/148,845 entitled "SUBSTITUTING STREAMING
STATION FOR OVER-THE-AIR BROADCAST," filed May 6, 2016, which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and made
part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Applications for all
purposes.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An automotive radio receiver comprising: an over-the-air radio
tuner configured to tune to an over-the-air radio broadcast on a
particular frequency in response to a first tuning event, the
over-the-air radio broadcast including embedded information at
least partially identifying a radio station broadcasting on the
particular frequency; processing circuitry coupled to the
over-the-air radio tuner and configured to determine, based on the
embedded information, that the radio station broadcasting on the
particular frequency is associated with a corresponding streaming
radio station; a network interface including a personal-area
network interface configured to communicate with a mobile device
coupled to a mobile carrier network via a packet-switched wireless
network, the network interface coupled to the processing circuitry
and, the network interface further configured to: transmit
information associated with the corresponding streaming radio
station to a web service; receive from the web service, via the
packet-switched wireless network, a network address at which the
corresponding streaming radio station can be accessed; memory
coupled to the processing circuitry configured to store the network
address; and the processing circuitry further configured to respond
to a subsequent tuning event by using the network address to stream
the corresponding streaming radio station instead of tuning to the
over-the-air radio broadcast.
2. The automotive radio receiver of claim 1, wherein targeted
advertisements are inserted into the corresponding streaming radio
station based, at least in part, on registration information
associated with the automotive radio receiver.
3. The automotive radio receiver of claim 1, wherein the embedded
information includes information received via at least one of a
Radio Data System (RDS) protocol or an in-band on-channel (IBOC)
radio protocol.
4. A method for use in an automotive radio receiver including
processing circuitry, an over-the-air radio tuner, and a network
interface, the method comprising: receiving, at the automotive
radio receiver, first user input to the automotive radio receiver
indicating a first tuning event; in response to the first tuning
event, tuning the over-the-air radio tuner to an over-the-air radio
broadcast on a particular frequency, the over-the-air radio
broadcast including embedded information at least partially
identifying a radio station broadcasting on the particular
frequency; determining by the processing circuitry, based at least
in part on the embedded information, that the radio station
broadcasting on the particular frequency is associated with a
corresponding streaming radio station; transmitting information
associated with the corresponding streaming radio station to a web
service via a network interface coupled to a packet-switched
wireless network, wherein the network interface includes a
personal-area network interface configured to communicate with a
mobile device coupled to a mobile carrier network via the
packet-switched wireless network; receiving, via the network
interface, a network address at which the corresponding streaming
radio station can be accessed; storing the network address in a
memory accessible to the processing circuitry included in the
automotive radio receiver; receiving second user input indicating a
second tuning event, the second tuning event indicating that the
automotive radio receiver is to be tuned to the over-the-air radio
broadcast; and in response to the second tuning event, using the
network address to stream the corresponding streaming radio station
instead of tuning the over-the-air radio tuner to the over-the-air
radio broadcast.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the corresponding streaming radio
station includes targeted advertisements inserted into the
corresponding streaming radio station based, at least in part, on
registration information associated with the automotive radio
receiver.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining further
comprises: transmitting at least a portion of the embedded
information, via the network interface, to an external server for
identification of the corresponding streaming radio station.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining further
comprises: using a database cache local to the automotive radio
receiver to determine whether an affiliation of the radio station
matches a target affiliation; and in response to determining that
the affiliation matches the target affiliation, transmitting an
identity of the radio station to an external server.
Description
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT
DISC
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to media broadcasting, and more
particularly to providing media broadcasts via a substitute
medium.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, most automobile radios tune to FM, AM, and Satellite
broadcast radio, with some automobiles also having the ability to
connect to streaming radio via a device such as a smartphone,
onboard cellular or WiFi. Some radios can interleave or combine
content received via FM, AM, or Satellite broadcasts with content
received via WiFi or another non-broadcast source. For example,
content received from the non-broadcast sources can be inserted
into a radio broadcast being received by the automotive radio, or
into a streaming internet radio station received by the automobile
radio.
However, conventional methods of combining broadcast and
non-broadcast content do not use the full potential of
network-connected automobile radios to provide streaming content to
end-users.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of
operation that are further described in the following Brief
Description of the Drawings, the Detailed Description of the
Invention, and the claims. Various features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description of the invention made with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a broadcasting system in
accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a hybrid automotive radio or
other type of media receiver having both a packet-switched network
interface and an over-the-air radio tuner, in accordance with
various embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method in which a streaming
station including custom-targeted advertisements is substituted for
a broadcast station use in an automotive or other hybrid radio
receiver, in accordance with various embodiments of the present
disclosure;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method that includes
transmitting a replacement stream to an automotive or other hybrid
radio receiver, in accordance with various embodiments of the
present disclosure; and
FIG. 5 is a high-level block diagram of a processing system, part
or all of which can be used to implement various server, machines,
systems, and hybrid radios in accordance with various embodiments
of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In various embodiments discussed herein, an automobile radio, or
other hybrid radio that includes both an over-the-air tuner and a
packet-switched network interface, may collect data from an
over-the-air-broadcast to identify the station to which the radio
is currently tuned. The information collected can be obtained from
broadcast data embedded in the broadcast using various protocols,
including but not limited to Radio Data System (RDS) protocol, and
information embedded in the broadcast using in-band-on-channel
(IBOC) techniques such as those used in HD Radio.TM. transmissions.
Other information collected at the automobile radio, either
directly or indirectly, can include information about a currently
tuned frequency, latitude and longitude, or other information that
can be useful in determining a radio station identifier.
After determining the identity of the currently tuned radio
station, some embodiments may determine whether the station belongs
to a predetermined group of stations. For example, the station
could be an iHeartMedia.RTM. station, or have some other known
affiliation with a particular group or entity. This affiliation or
group membership can be used, in some instances to identify a
corresponding streaming station by either a web service, or locally
at the automobile radio by consulting a list that cross-references
over-the-air stations that are members of a group with
corresponding streaming stations.
In at least one embodiment, Station ID data determined at the
automobile radio can be sent to a web service via a packet-switched
communication network. A network address of a corresponding
streaming station determined based on the station ID, for example a
return uniform resource locator (URL), can be transmitted to the
automobile radio from the web service, and cached at an automobile
radio head unit or at a separate memory device in communication
with the radio head unit.
In various embodiments, based on the station ID and other vehicle
information, the automobile and/or the head unit can be registered
with the web service. Information about the driver or other user or
passenger(s) of the automobile radio can be collected, either at
the automobile radio itself or via another registration process,
and stored at the web service along with demographics and other
user preference data.
When the user next tunes to the same over-the-air station on the
automobile radio, the radio can connect substantially immediately
to the stream source specified by the cached URL, and present the
stream to the user in place of the over-the-air broadcast.
In various embodiments, advertisements included in the stream can
be based on a driver/user/passenger profile and associated
demographics and preferences via an ad insertion process employing
a content distribution network (CDN), for example using an
ad-serving platform such as Adswizz.RTM.. Thus, in at least one
embodiment, rather than substituting advertisements into an
over-the-air broadcast by pausing the broadcast, overwriting
portions of the broadcast, or otherwise, the entire over-the-air
broadcast can be replaced by a corresponding stream that includes
the desired advertisements.
Referring first to FIG. 1, a system 100 will be discussed according
to various embodiments of the present disclosure. System 100
includes media automation system 110, for example a NexGen.RTM.
automation system, which can control and automate various media
broadcast functions; and traffic and billing system 120, for
example a Viero.RTM. traffic system, which can provide control for
various traffic and billing functions such as entering and editing
orders, and scheduling spots. System 100 also includes streaming
broadcast system 160, through which a streaming broadcast of media
content can be provided to automotive radio system 191 via one or
more networks, such as Internet 161 and/or mobile carrier network
181 via cell tower 183. In addition to streaming broadcast system
160, system 100 can include over-the-air broadcast system 150,
through which media content is broadcast to automotive radio system
191 via broadcast tower 151.
Various media sources can also be included in system 100, for
example individual source media 142, database 141, programming from
another market and received via network 140, and programming
broadcast via satellite 131, which can be received via satellite
receiver 130. In some embodiments, although not explicitly
illustrated, satellite 131 can broadcast content directly to
automotive radio system 191. Although not specifically illustrated,
in various embodiments a streaming station can be substituted for a
satellite broadcast station by automotive radio system 191, using
the same or similar techniques used for substituting the streaming
station for a terrestrial over-the-air broadcast. Note that in some
embodiments, over-the-air broadcasting can include both
satellite-based over-the-air broadcasting and terrestrial
over-the-air broadcasting.
System 100 may also include advertisement system 122, sometimes
referred to as an external advertisement system, or a network
advertisement system, which can be used for provisioning general
advertisement content for streaming and broadcast airplay via the
traffic and billing system 120. The traffic and billing system 120
and the advertisement system 122 may communicate with each other,
and/or with over-air audio server 112 and/or streaming audio server
111 to coordinate local and general advertisement content.
In general, traffic and billing system 120 can be used to provide
control and monitoring of the sale and scheduling of spot blocks
containing one or more spots, and to determine which spot blocks
are to be played on which streaming and broadcast stations at
particular times. This information can be provided in the form of a
log file in some embodiments. Media automation system 110 can use
server 113 to gather programming and media information from various
sources, and combine that information with spot block information
119 to generate a log file indicating a substantially complete
representation of which media and spots are to be broadcast. The
log file and related information can be provided to both over-air
audio server 112 and streaming audio server 111 for broadcast over
their respective systems.
Media automation system 110, as illustrated, can include production
machine 116, which receives media content from network 140,
database 141, individual source media 142; control room machine
115; and utility machine 114, each of which is connected to server
113. Media automation system 110 can also include over-air audio
server 112, which provides media content to over-the-air broadcast
system 150; and streaming audio server 111, which provides audio
content to streaming broadcast system 160. Server 113 can provide
audio, images, video, or mixed media content to one or both of
over-air audio server 112 and streaming audio server 111. Note that
even though audio servers are illustrated and discussed, the
techniques and principles described herein can also be applied to
images, video, and mixed media content.
In at least one embodiment, one or more of the illustrated servers
can be implemented as a virtual server implemented on the same
hardware as another of the illustrated servers. In each case,
however, implementation of a server requires the use of hardware,
and general reference to a "server," unless otherwise explicitly
stated or required by the context, includes hardware components
used to implement the server functionality. Furthermore, various
distributed processing techniques can be used to spread
functionality of one or more of the illustrated servers across
multiple different machines.
In various embodiments, programming provided by streaming audio
server 111 to streaming broadcast system 160 can be the same
programming provided by over-air audio server 112 to over-the-air
broadcast system 150. In many instances, however, particular spots
included in the various spot blocks provided to over-the-air
broadcast system 150 and streaming broadcast system 160 can vary,
even though the length and timing of the spot blocks themselves are
generally consistent with each other.
A streaming station that provides substantially the same primary
programming as an over-the-air station, even if some or all of the
advertisements or ancillary content may be different, can be said
to be a "corresponding streaming station" with respect to the
over-the-air station. In general, the more closely the primary
content of a streaming station matches the primary content of an
over-the-air station, the more closely those stations are said to
correspond. If a particular media station duplicates its primary
content on a streaming station, even if advertisements and
ancillary content are not exactly duplicated, or the timing of the
primary content is offset or slightly altered, that streaming
station can be said to be an "exactly corresponding streaming
station." A streaming station that includes over 50% of the same
primary content broadcast by an over-the-air station can be said to
be a "loosely corresponding streaming station" to the over-the-air
station. A streaming station that does not necessarily broadcast
identical media items at the same time or in the same order as an
over-the-air station, but that streams primary content of the same
genre and style included in a broadcast of the over-the-air
station, can be said to be a "tangentially corresponding streaming
station" to the over-the-air station. Unless otherwise specified,
reference herein to a "corresponding streaming station" can include
any or all of exactly corresponding, loosely corresponding, or
tangentially corresponding streaming stations.
In some embodiments, system 110 can be, for example, a radio
automation system used to control media content broadcast via
multiple different radio stations in a single market, with some or
all system elements and subsystems co-located in a single physical
facility. In other embodiments, media automation system 110 can be
a radio automation system used to provide control of radio stations
in different markets, in different locations, or via different
distribution channels. In an illustrated embodiment, media
automation system 110 is used to control media broadcast over the
air via on-air broadcast system 150 and broadcast tower 151, and
streaming media provided to the Internet 161 via streaming
broadcast system 160. Broadcast stations and delivery media in
addition to those illustrated in FIG. 1 can also be controlled by
media automation system 110. It should be appreciated that media
automation system 110 can also be used with television and other
types of media that may broadcast programming via multiple
different stations or outlets.
Media automation system 110 can obtain media to be broadcast from
various sources. For example, production machine 116 can obtain
information from broadcasts in other markets via network 140.
Production machine 116 can also obtain media from database 141,
which may be a database local to production machine 116, or local
to another server or machine that is part of media automation
system 110. In other embodiments database 141 can be maintained by
a third-party media provider, which can be remote from media
automation system 110. Production machine 116 can also obtain media
to be broadcast from individual media sources, such individual
source media 142, which may include any of various non-volatile
media storage elements, including but not limited to optical disks,
e.g. compact discs (CDs), digital video disks (DVDs), various types
of magnetic and electromagnetic storage media, or the like.
Production machine 116 can provide some or all of the media to be
broadcast to server 113. In addition to the media provided to
server 113 from production machine 116, satellite receiver 130 can
also provide satellite content to be inserted into a broadcast via
over-air audio server 112 and streaming audio server 111. Server
113 can also receive media or other content to be broadcast from
control room machine 115. Control room machine 115 may include a
studio in which a live broadcast is being generated, such as a talk
show or other similar live program, but control room machine 115
can also provide media to server 113 other than live media.
Additionally, control room machine 115 can provide server 113 with
various control functions, and in some cases an operator can
manually add or remove spots, programming, and other content that
server 113 has previously slotted for broadcast. Thus, for example,
an operator in control room machine 115 may determine that a
previously scheduled spot in a particular spot block is not to be
broadcast for any of various reasons. Upon making that
determination, control room machine 115 can be used to send a
signal to server 113. In response to the signal, server 113 can
remove the spot from its previously scheduled spot block. In some
embodiments, the removed, or "bumped" spot is not delivered to
over-air audio server 112 for over-the-air broadcast, nor is it
delivered to streaming audio server 111 for streaming
broadcast.
Traffic and billing system 120 is, in some embodiments, connected
to server 113 via a utility machine 114. In other embodiments,
traffic and billing system may be connected to server 113 through
other machines, for example a control room machine 115, production
machine 116, or directly connected to server 113. In other
embodiments, traffic and billing system 120 and server 113 can be
included in a single machine, or collection of machines that are
co-located or connected in a distributed fashion. In yet further
embodiments, traffic and billing system 120 can include local
instances or subsystems associated with one or more media stations,
and a backend subsystem used to provide centralized control or
services to each of the local instances or subsystems.
In various embodiments, spot block information 119 can include
requests for identification of potential spots available for
inclusion in an under-filled spot block, responses to such
requests, bumped spot notifications, broadcast logs and lists, spot
files, parameters related to available, unavailable, and potential
spots, spot block parameters, ranks, conditional information,
various status information related to spots, and the like.
Also, traffic and billing system 120 may be connected to the
advertisement system 122. The advertisement system 122 can, in
various embodiments, operate to provide network inventory directly
to media automation system 110 for broadcast in accordance with a
broadcast log specifying inventory allocations 123 generated by the
traffic and billing system 120. Traffic and billing system 120 can
provide the broadcast log to server 113 of media automation system
110. In some embodiments, the broadcast log can include entries
that specify spots reserved for playout of local inventory by media
automation system 110, and placeholder, or network, entries
specifying particular portions of spot blocks reserved for playout
of network inventory by advertisement system 122.
The media automation system 110 can play out media content for
broadcast in accordance with the broadcast log using, for example,
over-air media server 112 or streaming media server 111. Some or
all of the content broadcast using over-air media server 112 and
streaming media server 111 can include primary and/or advertising
content delivered by server 113. In at least some embodiments,
content delivered by server 113 includes separate information to be
embedded in a broadcast at or near the time of broadcast by
over-air media server 112, streaming media server 111, over-air
broadcast system 150, or streaming broadcast system 160. In other
embodiments, the content delivered by server 113 can include
pre-embedded information. In at least some embodiments, broadcast
servers such as over-air media server 112 and streaming media
server 111, or broadcast systems such as or over-air broadcast
system 150 and streaming broadcast system 160 can create and embed
their own content. For example, content broadcast by over-the-air
broadcast system 150 can include broadcast station content 153,
which includes primary broadcast content, advertisements, and
embedded information indicating the broadcast station's identity.
Similarly, content broadcast by streaming broadcast system 160 can
include streaming station content 163, which includes primary
streaming content, and customized advertisements.
Although not necessary for implementation of some embodiments
described herein, streaming station content can also include
embedded information. In some embodiments if embedded information
is included in streaming content 163, that embedded information can
be ignored when determining whether a streaming station is
considered to be a corresponding streaming station, but other
embodiments can use information such as station identification and
group membership information embedded in streaming content 163 to
aid in making a determination about whether or not a streaming
station is considered to be a corresponding streaming station of
the broadcast station.
The embedded information included in broadcast station content 153
can include, but is not limited to, a station identifier such as a
station call sign, a station affiliation or group membership
indicator, a time stamp, or other information that can be used to
identify the station broadcasting the broadcast station content
153. Information can be embedded in a broadcast signal using
various techniques, including, using a Radio Data System (RDS)
protocol, using in-band-on-channel (IBOC) techniques such as those
used in HD Radio.TM. transmissions, including a
non-user-perceptible watermark in the broadcast, or using various
other signal encoding techniques. In at least one embodiment, the
embedded information is received at automotive radio system 191
after a user tunes the automotive radio system 191 to the
appropriate channel. Automotive radio system 191 can extract the
embedded data and determine the identity of the broadcast station.
In various implementations, identifying the broadcast station can
include determining whether or not the broadcast station belongs to
a particular group, or collection of stations.
Group membership or station affiliation information can be used to
aid in selecting an appropriate corresponding streaming station, or
in determining an address of a corresponding streaming station. For
example, if a broadcast station is identified as a member of group
A, and group A provides a list of streaming stations that
correspond to member broadcast stations, that list can be used to
select a corresponding streaming station. Additionally, group A can
include in its listing a level or degree of correspondence, so that
if a preferred corresponding streaming station is not available, a
second or subsequent choice, which may or may not have a lesser
degree of correspondence, can be selected from the list. In at
least one embodiment, however, identification of a group may be
bypassed, especially where the broadcast station streams an exactly
corresponding streaming station.
Automotive radio system 191 can use the embedded data locally to
determine the identity of the broadcast station, to determine the
identity of a corresponding streaming station, or in some cases
even to determine an address of the corresponding streaming
station. In at least one embodiment, however, automotive radio
system 191 transmits information about the identity of the
broadcast station to web service 193 via mobile carrier network
181, Internet 161, or some combination thereof, and web service 193
selects a corresponding streaming station, determines the network
address of the corresponding streaming station, and transmits that
network address back to automotive radio system 191. In some
implementations, web service 193 transmits station identification
alone or in conjunction with other related information to server
113, and web server 113 uses resources available to media
automation system 110 to processes the information received from
web service 193 and identify one or more corresponding streaming
stations and network addresses associated with those corresponding
streaming stations. Web server 113 can then transmit information
related to the corresponding streaming stations, along with the
network addresses of the corresponding streaming stations, to web
service 193.
Even if web service 193 makes its determinations and selections
regarding the identity and address of corresponding streaming
stations independent of server 113, web service 193 can transmit
information about its determinations and selections to media
automation system 110, for example to server 113. The information
provided by web service 193 can include information about
automotive radio system 191, a user of automotive radio system 191,
and in some cases various history, demographic, preference and
other information such as regular passengers that can be used to
allow selection of targeted advertisements to be delivered to
automotive radio system 191 as part of, or in conjunction, with the
selected corresponding streaming station. Media automation system
110 can provide information received from web service 193 to
advertisement system 122, allowing advertisement system 122 to
provide appropriately targeted advertisements to streaming audio
server 111. Streaming audio server 111 can then insert the targeted
advertisements into streaming station content 163, which can then
be delivered to automotive radio system 191 via streaming broadcast
system 160. In some embodiments, web service 193 can deliver
information to advertisement system 122 via Internet 161 instead
of, or in addition to, delivering that information to media
automation system 110. In most embodiments, however, media
automation system 110 and/or traffic and billing system 120 are
informed of which advertisements are delivered to automotive radio
system 191, and the identity of the streaming station into which
those advertisements are inserted.
In some implementations, network advertisement system 122 can
pre-deliver customized advertisements to automotive radio system
191, e.g. via streaming audio server 111, for later insertion
locally into the corresponding streaming station, rather than
inserting the customized advertisements into streaming station
content 163.
In some embodiments, advertisement system 122 can deliver
customized advertisements directly to automotive radio system 191
via Internet 161 or mobile carrier network 181 (not specifically
illustrated). In those cases, advertisement system 122 could simply
report to traffic and billing system 120, server 113, over-air
audio server 112, streaming audio server 111, or some combination
thereof, various information associated with advertisements
delivered directly to automotive radio system 191. The reported
information can include but is not limited to, identification of
directly delivered advertisements, time-to-live associated with the
advertisements, time of delivery, identification of automotive
radio system 191, identification of a corresponding streaming
station into which the directly delivered advertisements are to be
inserted, and the like. In other embodiments, however,
advertisements can be delivered to automotive radio system 191 via
media delivery mechanisms associated with media automation system
110, including delivery via a content distribution network included
in or associated with streaming broadcast system 160 (not
specifically illustrated).
Advertisement system 122 can select custom advertisements to be
inserted in streaming station content 163, or to be delivered to
automotive radio system 191 for later insertion based on profile,
demographic, registration, history of usage, or other information
collected using automotive radio system 191, or obtained from a
user or passenger profile associated with the web service 193. The
collection and use of information used to select customized
advertisements will be discussed in greater detail
subsequently.
Various system configurations can be used to implement the
teachings set forth herein, and are not limited to the exact
configurations discussed with reference to FIG. 1. For example,
although at least one embodiment includes separate traffic and
billing systems, similar functionality can be provided using a
single, integrated or system having one or more local or
distributed processing, storage, and communication elements. Thus,
although embodiments including automation and traffic systems are
primarily discussed herein, other embodiments can be implemented
without the need for cooperation between separate automation and
traffic systems.
Referring next to FIG. 2, a hybrid radio 200 will be discussed
according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Although this disclosure focuses on an automotive radio, the
teachings set forth herein can be applied to other types of hybrid
radios and devices, e.g. devices including an over-the-air tuner
and a network interface capable of two-way communication via a wide
area network, including but not limited to "smart phones" that
incorporate broadcast FM radio tuners.
Hybrid automotive radio 200 includes tuner 230, user interface 240,
processing circuitry 220, memory 290, network interface 260, and
wireless carrier interface 270. Tuner 230 can include radio
receiver circuitry used to receive radio frequency broadcasts in
the amplitude modulation (AM) band; in the frequency modulation
(FM) band, including signals transmitted in accordance with
in-band-on-channel (IBOC) techniques and radio data system (RDS)
transmissions, and/or in other radio frequency transmission bands
used to broadcast media content to consumers, including frequency
bands used for broadcasting television programs. Thus, although the
present disclosure focuses generally on AM/FM radio broadcasts,
with a streaming radio station being substituted for an
over-the-air AM/FM radio broadcast, similar techniques can be
applied to television broadcasts. In some such embodiments, a
streaming television station can be substituted for an over-the-air
television station if hybrid radio 200 is implemented as a hybrid
television set, or "smart TV," including both an over-the-air tuner
and a wired or wireless network interface.
User interface 240 can include audio, video, tactile, or other
input and output devices capable of obtaining information from a
user, and presenting information to a user, including presentation
of an over-the-air broadcast station and a streaming station.
Memory 290 can be used by processing circuitry 220 to store various
information, including, but not limited to: a tuning history
associated with hybrid radio 200, a location history, user
demographic, preference, registration, network addresses associated
with one or more streaming stations corresponding to one or more
over-the-air broadcast stations, and advertisements or other
primary/non-primary content to be inserted into streaming
content.
Network interface 260 can be a wired (not explicitly illustrated)
or wireless network interface that communicates via a packet
switched network according to various communication standards such
as IEEE 802.xx, which specifies communication standards such as
802.11 for wireless local area networks (WLAN), IEEE 802.3 for
Ethernet, and IEEE 802.15 for personal area networks, or the like.
Wireless carrier interface 270 can allow communication using any of
various protocols used by cellular/mobile phone carriers to allow
the transmission of data between mobile devices, or between mobile
devices and the Internet. Such communication standards can include
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Global System for Mobile
communication (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service
(UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division
Multiple Access (FDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), or the like.
Processing circuitry 220 can include extraction module 221,
presentation module 222, tuning decision module 223, association
module 224, and collection module 225. In operation, tuner 230 may
receive an over-the-air broadcast from a tuned broadcast station,
and then may demodulate the station and provide the demodulated
output to processing circuitry 220 and/or interface 240. In some
embodiments, tuner 230 includes all of the necessary circuitry and
software to generate user-perceptible output, without assistance
from processing circuitry 220. In other embodiments, presentation
module 222 can process the demodulated output of tuner 230, and
deliver broadcast station content to interface 240 for output and
presentation to a user. In various embodiments, even if tuner 230
provides its output directly to interface 240, the demodulated
output can also be sent to extraction module 221, where information
embedded in the over-the-air broadcast signal can be extracted.
Note that in some cases where embedded information is received in a
sideband, or otherwise requires additional decoding prior to being
processed, tuner 230 can be used in conjunction with extraction
module 221 to extract the embedded information from the broadcast
signal. Signal processing techniques can include, but are not
limited to watermark detection.
The embedded information extracted from the demodulated signal by
extraction module 221 can be delivered to association module 224,
while the primary and/or advertising content can be delivered to
presentation module 222 for any further processing needed before
delivering the broadcast content to interface 240. The embedded
information extracted by extraction module 221 can include station
identification and/or other information used by association module
224 to determine a broadcast station's identity, and eventually
determine an address of a corresponding streaming station.
Association module 224 can compare station identification or other
information received from extraction module 221 with a list of
stations stored in memory 290 to determine whether the station to
which hybrid radio 200 is tuned is associated or affiliated with a
known group of stations having known corresponding streaming
stations. In some embodiments, the list of stations can include
data linking known broadcast stations to one or more corresponding
streaming stations, and a network address of a corresponding
streaming stations can be determined based on a table lookup. In
some embodiments, the table lookup performed by association module
224 to select a corresponding streaming station can include, but is
not limited to: correlating a station ID with a location included
in embedded information, correlating a station ID and a current
location of hybrid radio 200, correlating a station ID with a
tuning history and a current time and/or location, correlating
genre or other station information with user preferences, or some
combination thereof.
In various implementations, association module 224 can transmit a
request, via network interface 260 or wireless carrier interface
270, for a web service to provide a network address of a
corresponding streaming station. The request can include a request
to more fully identify the broadcast station to which hybrid radio
200 is tuned, a request to provide information about one or more
streaming stations corresponding to an already identified broadcast
station, a request for an address of an already identified
corresponding streaming station, or some combination thereof. In
some embodiments, a request for a web service to determine a
corresponding streaming station can be made if a local attempt is
unsuccessful, or as a verification that the local process has
identified an appropriate corresponding streaming station.
In some implementations, during a time when hybrid radio 200 is
tuned to a broadcast station, association module 224 can determine
and store uniform resource locators or other network addresses
associated with one or more streaming stations that correspond to
the currently-tuned broadcast station. When the hybrid radio 200 is
next instructed to tune to that broadcast station, sometimes
referred to herein as a "tuning event," decision module 223 makes a
determination regarding whether hybrid radio 200 should actually
tune to the broadcast station using tuner 230, or whether hybrid
radio 200 should instead access the corresponding streaming station
via network interface 260 or wireless carrier interface 270, in
both cases using the network address stored in memory 290. Decision
Module 223 can, in some embodiments, control whether tuner 230
tunes to the broadcast station as requested using over-air tuner
control signal 250.
The decision about whether to tune to the broadcast station using
tuner 230 or to present a corresponding streaming station can be
based, at least in part, on factors including, but not limited to:
user preferences, a tuning history associated with a user of hybrid
radio 200, availability or quality of the broadcast station,
availability of one or more corresponding streaming stations, the
level of correspondence of available streaming stations, a time of
day, a location of hybrid radio 200, whether or not a particular
user or passenger is known or assumed to be using the hybrid radio
200, whether or not a user or passenger is logged into a media
service providing corresponding streaming stations, whether or not
available streaming stations are affiliated or otherwise belong to
the same group as the broadcast station, a data usage level, speed,
or cap associated with a wireless carrier account, or a "streaming
substitution" setting associated with hybrid radio 200 that can
specify if or when streaming substitution should, must, or can be
performed. In at least some embodiments, accessing the
corresponding streaming station in response to detecting a tuning
event is the default action, unless overridden by a user.
In various embodiments, some or all of the information used by
decision module 223 can be obtained from web service 193, another
service to which a user of hybrid radio 200 belongs, from
collection module 225, or some combination of these and other
sources. In at least one embodiment, collection module 225 can
locally collect information including, but not limited to: user
preferences, a tuning history and usage patterns, location
information, time and date information, signal quality information,
and the like. Collection module 225 can associate and correlate
collected information, for example to determine, a location or time
of day at which a user or passenger typically switches from a
corresponding stream back to a broadcast station, if different
corresponding streaming stations are presented at different
locations, which corresponding streaming station presents media
items that are tagged more frequently, whether a different user is
operating hybrid radio 200 at different times or location, whether
a particular passenger or driver of a vehicle in which hybrid radio
200 is located typically initiates tuning events. Information
collected or generated by collection module 225 can be stored in
memory 290 for later use by tuning decision module 223 or
association module 224. In addition to storing information in
memory 290, collection module 225 can send some or all of the
information collected to web service 193 via network interface 260
or wireless carrier interface 270.
The following non-limiting example illustrates basic operational
principles of various embodiments. Hybrid radio 200 receives
over-air broadcast 205. Tuner 230 demodulates the signal, strips
the carrier, and sends the informational content of over-air
broadcast 205 to extraction module 221. Extraction module 221
extracts information embedded in over-air broadcast 205, and sends
primary content and any advertisements included in over-air
broadcast 205 to presentation module 222. Presentation module 222
formats, translates, decodes, or otherwise processes content for
playout to a user via interface 240. At the same time, extraction
module 221 transmits to association module 224 embedded information
indicating the identity of the broadcast station transmitting
over-air broadcast 205.
Continuing with the same non-limiting example, association module
224 transmits, to a web service, over-air station ID information
208 via network interface 260, or over-air station ID information
218 via network interface 270. In response to transmitting the
station ID information, association module 224 receives back from
the web service either stream address 204 (if network interface 260
is used) or stream address 214 (if network interface 260 is used).
Stream addresses 204 and 214 include, in at least one embodiment,
the network address of one or more streams corresponding to the
currently tuned broadcast station. Association module 224 stores
the stream address in memory 290.
Collection module 225 is generally, though not necessarily,
operating substantially continuously whenever hybrid radio 200 is
powered on. Collection module 225 can periodically, in response to
a request, in response to user interaction with interface 240, or
otherwise, transmit user feedback 202 or 212 to web service 193,
and store information associated with user feedback to memory 290
for use by tuning decision module 223 and/or association module
224.
Continuing with the same non-limiting example, at some later time,
for example after powering down then re-powering hybrid radio 200,
or after the user tunes-away from the current broadcast station to
another station, decision module 223 detects a tuning event in
which hybrid radio 200 is again being tuned to the original
broadcast station. Decision module 223, after determining that the
address of an available corresponding streaming station is stored
in memory 290, notifies association module 224 that it should
transmit stream request 226, which can include a request for
streaming content 206 (if using network interface 260), or request
for streaming content 216 (if using wireless carrier interface 270)
to the address stored in memory 290. In response to the request for
streaming content, hybrid radio 200 receives corresponding stream
237 or 247, and presentation module 222 transmits the streaming
content to interface 240 in place of the demodulated broadcast data
from over-air broadcast 205.
Referring next to FIG. 3 a method 300, in which a streaming station
including custom-targeted advertisements may be substituted for a
broadcast station use in an automotive or other hybrid radio
receiver, will be discussed in accordance with various embodiments
of the present disclosure. As illustrated by block 301, first
tuning input can be received at a hybrid media device such as a
hybrid automotive radio. The first tuning input may instruct the
hybrid automotive radio to tune to a broadcast media station, and
can be considered to be a first tuning event. As illustrated by
block 303, the hybrid automotive radio may respond to the first
tuning input by causing a broadcast tuner included in the hybrid
automotive radio to tune to the selected broadcast station.
As illustrated at block 305, a station ID or other information that
can be used to identify the currently tuned broadcast station can
be extracted from the signal broadcast by the selected broadcast
station. As illustrated by block 307, the identity of the station,
as determined by the information extracted from broadcast signal,
can be checked to determine whether or not the broadcast station is
recognized locally by the hybrid automotive radio as a member of a
particular group of broadcast stations having corresponding
streaming media stations. If the hybrid automotive radio does not
recognize the broadcast station as a group member, the station ID
can be sent offsite for analysis, as illustrated at block 309. The
offsite analysis can be made, for example, by a media automation
system or a web service, and can include an offsite determination
about whether the tuned broadcast station is a recognized group
member, as illustrated by block 311.
In some embodiments, if neither the local determination at block
307, nor the offsite determination at block 311 recognize the
station ID as a member of a group of broadcast stations having
corresponding streaming media stations, method 300 ends. If either
the local determination at block 307, or the offsite determination
at block 311, results in recognition of the currently tuned
broadcast station as a group member, the station ID can be sent to
a web service, as illustrated at block 313, for the web service to
select a corresponding streaming station. Note that in some
embodiments, although not explicitly illustrated, a corresponding
streaming station can be selected even if the broadcast station is
not a recognized group member.
As illustrated at block 315, the web service can send a URL or
other network address of the corresponding streaming station to the
hybrid automotive radio, which can cache the address or place the
address into longer-term storage accessible to the hybrid
automotive radio, as illustrated at block 317. As illustrated at
block 319 second tuning input can be received at the hybrid
automotive radio at a later point in time, after the address of the
corresponding streaming station has been stored. The second tuning
input, sometimes referred to as a second tuning event, may instruct
the hybrid automotive radio to tune to the same broadcast station
indicated by the first tuning input.
As illustrated by block 321, in response to the second tuning
event, the hybrid automotive radio may send a message to the stored
address, the message requesting the corresponding streaming station
to be streamed to the hybrid automotive radio. As illustrated at
block 323, the corresponding streaming station can be received at
the hybrid automotive radio. The corresponding stream can be played
out instead of tuning to the broadcast station, as illustrated by
block 325. The end result is that a corresponding streaming station
can be substituted for an over-the-air broadcast station in
response to a request to tune the hybrid automotive receiver to a
particular broadcast station.
Referring next to FIG. 4, a method 400 a method of transmitting a
replacement stream to an automotive or other hybrid radio will be
discussed in accordance with various embodiments of the present
disclosure. As illustrated at block 401, a web service can receive,
from a hybrid automotive radio, a station identifier identifying an
over-the-air broadcast station. In response to receiving the
station identifier, the web service can return an address of one or
more corresponding streaming stations, as illustrated at block,
403.
The web service can also receive from the hybrid automotive radio,
as illustrated by block 405, registration information associated
with an automobile in which the hybrid automotive radio is
installed, the hybrid automotive radio itself, a user of the hybrid
automotive radio, passenger in the vehicle, or some combination
thereof. The hybrid automotive radio can also collect preference
and historical information associated with the automobile, the
hybrid automotive radio, and one or more users, and send that
information to the web service. As illustrated at block 409, the
web service can receive the information collected by the hybrid
automotive radio, and forward that information to an advertising
system, a traffic and billing system, a media automation system, or
some combination thereof. The information collected by the hybrid
automotive radio can be used to select advertisements targeted to a
user of the hybrid automotive radio for insertion into one or more
spots in any corresponding streaming station eventually delivered
to the hybrid automotive radio.
As illustrated at block 411, a request for a particular streaming
station can be received from the hybrid automotive radio.
Additionally, custom advertisements selected based on the
information collected by the hybrid automotive radio can be
received from an advertising system, as illustrated at block 413.
As illustrated by block 415, a check can be made to determine
whether some or all of the custom advertisements are to be inserted
at the hybrid automotive radio, or whether the advertisements are
to be inserted into the corresponding streaming station prior to
streaming the corresponding station to the hybrid automotive
radio.
If it is determined at block 415 that the custom advertisements are
to be inserted into the stream by the hybrid automotive device,
custom advertisements can be delivered to the hybrid automotive
radio for storage and later insertion, as illustrated at block 419.
If it is determined at block 415 that the custom advertisements are
to be inserted into the stream prior to transmitting the stream to
the hybrid automotive radio, the web service, a media automation
system, or a content distribution network can insert the custom
advertisements into the stream, as illustrated by block 417. Note
that in some embodiments, a web service coordinates with various
portions of a media automation system and/or a content distribution
network to implement one or more portions of method 400.
As illustrated at block 421, the requested streaming station can be
transmitted to the automotive radio, either with or without custom
advertisements already included in the stream.
Referring now to FIG. 5, a high-level block diagram of a processing
system is illustrated and discussed. Processing system 500 includes
one or more central processing units, such as CPU A 505 and CPU B
507, which may be conventional microprocessors interconnected with
various other units via at least one system bus 510. CPU A 505 and
CPU B 507 may be separate cores of an individual, multi-core
processor, or individual processors connected via a specialized bus
511. In some embodiments, CPU A 505 or CPU B 507 may be a
specialized processor, such as a graphics processor, other
co-processor, or the like.
Processing system 500 includes random access memory (RAM) 520;
read-only memory (ROM) 515, wherein the ROM 515 could also be
erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or electrically
erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM); input/output (I/O)
adapter 525, for connecting peripheral devices such as disk units
530, optical drive 536, or tape drive 537 to system bus 510; a user
interface adapter 540 for connecting keyboard 545, mouse 550,
speaker 555, microphone 560, or other user interface devices to
system bus 510; communications adapter 565 for connecting
processing system 500 to an information network such as the
Internet or any of various local area networks, wide area networks,
telephone networks, or the like; and display adapter 570 for
connecting system bus 510 to a display device such as monitor 575.
Mouse 550 has a series of buttons 580, 585 and may be used to
control a cursor shown on monitor 575.
It will be understood that processing system 500 may include other
suitable data processing systems without departing from the scope
of the present disclosure. For example, processing system 500 may
include bulk storage and cache memories, which provide temporary
storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number
of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during
execution.
As may be used herein, the terms "substantially" and
"approximately" provide an industry-accepted tolerance for its
corresponding term and/or relativity between items. Such an
industry-accepted tolerance ranges from less than one percent to
fifty percent and corresponds to, but is not limited to, component
values, integrated circuit process variations, temperature
variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. Such
relativity between items ranges from a difference of a few percent
to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, the term(s)
"configured to", "operably coupled to", "coupled to", and/or
"coupling" includes direct coupling between items and/or indirect
coupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an item
includes, but is not limited to, a component, an element, a
circuit, and/or a module) where, for an example of indirect
coupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of a
signal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or
power level. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling
(i.e., where one element is coupled to another element by
inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items
in the same manner as "coupled to". As may even further be used
herein, the term "configured to", "operable to", "coupled to", or
"operably coupled to" indicates that an item includes one or more
of power connections, input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when
activated, one or more its corresponding functions and may further
include inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may still
further be used herein, the term "associated with", includes direct
and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item being
embedded within another item.
As may be used herein, the term "compares favorably", indicates
that a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc.,
provides a desired relationship. For example, when the desired
relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal
2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude of
signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude of
signal 2 is less than that of signal 1.
As may also be used herein, the terms "processing module",
"processing circuit", "processor", and/or "processing unit" may be
a single processing device or a plurality of processing devices.
Such a processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller,
digital signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit,
field programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state
machine, logic circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,
and/or any device that manipulates signals (analog and/or digital)
based on hard coding of the circuitry and/or operational
instructions. The processing module, module, processing circuit,
and/or processing unit may be, or further include, memory and/or an
integrated memory element, which may be a single memory device, a
plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of another
processing module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing
unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access
memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory,
dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that
stores digital information. Note that if the processing module,
module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more
than one processing device, the processing devices may be centrally
located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or
wireless bus structure) or may be distributedly located (e.g.,
cloud computing via indirect coupling via a local area network
and/or a wide area network). Further note that if the processing
module, module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit
implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analog
circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory
and/or memory element storing the corresponding operational
instructions may be embedded within, or external to, the circuitry
comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,
and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memory element
may store, and the processing module, module, processing circuit,
and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operational
instructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/or
functions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memory
device or memory element can be included in an article of
manufacture.
One or more embodiments of an invention have been described above
with the aid of method steps illustrating the performance of
specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and
sequence of these functional building blocks and method steps have
been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description.
Alternate boundaries and sequences can be defined so long as the
specified functions and relationships are appropriately performed.
Any such alternate boundaries or sequences are thus within the
scope and spirit of the claims. Further, the boundaries of these
functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined for
convenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined
as long as the certain significant functions are appropriately
performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been
arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certain significant
functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram block
boundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and still
perform the certain significant functionality. Such alternate
definitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram
blocks and sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the
claimed invention. One of average skill in the art will also
recognize that the functional building blocks, and other
illustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can be
implemented as illustrated or by discrete components, application
specific integrated circuits, processors executing appropriate
software and the like or any combination thereof.
The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or
more aspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or
one or more examples of the invention. A physical embodiment of an
apparatus, an article of manufacture, a machine, and/or of a
process may include one or more of the aspects, features, concepts,
examples, etc. described with reference to one or more of the
embodiments discussed herein. Further, from figure to figure, the
embodiments may incorporate the same or similarly named functions,
steps, modules, etc. that may use the same or different reference
numbers and, as such, the functions, steps, modules, etc. may be
the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc. or different
ones.
Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/or
between elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein
may be analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and
single-ended or differential. For instance, if a signal path is
shown as a single-ended path, it also represents a differential
signal path. Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential
path, it also represents a single-ended signal path. While one or
more particular architectures are described herein, other
architectures can likewise be implemented that use one or more data
buses not expressly shown, direct connectivity between elements,
and/or indirect coupling between other elements as recognized by
one of average skill in the art.
The term "module" is used in the description of one or more of the
embodiments. A module includes a processing module, a processor, a
functional block, hardware, and/or memory that stores operational
instructions for performing one or more functions as may be
described herein. Note that, if the module is implemented via
hardware, the hardware may operate independently and/or in
conjunction with software and/or firmware. As also used herein, a
module may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be
one or more modules.
While particular combinations of various functions and features of
the one or more embodiments have been expressly described herein,
other combinations of these features and functions are likewise
possible. The present disclosure of an invention is not limited by
the particular examples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates
these other combinations.
* * * * *